April 13, 2014 at 12:07 am , by Nick Shell

3 years, 4 months.

Dear Jack,

As of today, I have been doing this for exactly 4 years. That’s right- I’ve been writing to you, or at least about you, since April 13, 2010; which was 7 months before you were even born.

Here’s an explanation as featured in the About Mesection:

“Back in April 2010, I decided I wanted to set a world record for the longest-running daddy blog in the world, beginning with the day the parents-to-be went public with the news they were expecting a baby. Nearly a thousand blog posts later, I write a new one nearly every day.”

Sure, it takes discipline and creativity to write a fatherly post 25 times each month (this is my 955th over all), but it’s one of the things in this life I do best.

Even then, my best isn’t always great. In the past 4 years, I have definitely written things I would later, and still do, regret. At the same time, those “regretful” moments also have served as important milestones in my maturity as your daddy, as well as a writer.

On the other extreme, I think it’s interesting to see what the most interesting things I’ve written to you are about. While my Top 10 Dadabase posts are definitely not my personal Top 10 favorites, the free market has decided otherwise, and I absolutely appreciate their opinion and input.

Just for the record, I have still yet to officially “break the 4th wall” and admit to you that these letters are seen by anyone other than you and me; today is as close as it gets for now. (It’s sort of like how on the TV show, The Office, they never really acknowledged the camera crew or the fact there were making a documentary until the final season.)

So to celebrate 4 years and running, 3 of them being on Parents.com, I now take a look at how my fatherly perspective most resonates with the general public:

#1: No-Bake Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls… Jealous Much? (February 7, 2014/16 Facebook “likes”)

#2: The Half-Abortion: Only Keeping One Twin (August 14, 2011/2,900 Facebook “likes”)

#3: 5 Token Signs Of Millennial (Or Generation Y) Parents (December 2, 2012/44 Facebook “likes”)

#4: A Slap In The Face: Child Abuse Or Child Discipline (June 10, 2012/329 Facebook “likes”)

#5: Is “Natural” Vanilla Flavoring Really From Beavers…? (February 12, 2012/2,700 Facebook “likes”)

#6: 5 Pointers To Help Avoid Food With Fillers (December 20, 2012/13 Facebook “likes”)

#7: 5 Impractical Ways To Save Your Family Money in 2013 (January 2, 2013/13 Facebook “likes”)

#8: Kama Sutra For Parents Of Young Children (February 14, 2012/1,000 Facebook “likes”)

#9: 7 Tips For Planning A 1 Year-Old’s Birthday Party (December 2, 2011/10 Facebook “likes”)

#10: The Amazing Photo Of Alicia Atkins’ Baby Reaching From The Womb (January 3, 2013/106 Facebook “likes”)

To my surprise, my review of the recipe for “No-Bake Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls” is by far the most popular thing I’ve ever written. I only wrote it 2 months ago, yet it has now nearly doubled the number of views of the #2 most popular most, which was published nearly 3 years ago.

So I guess I need to review more vegan recipes?

Over all, just glancing at which ones made the Top 10 list, it appears I am most interesting and relevant when I am talking about our vegan (“plant-based”) lifestyle, morality issues, identifying as Generation Y parents, questioning the traditional norms of child discipline, being “cheap” parents, poking fun at the realities of trying to sleep as a parent, planning a child’s birthday party, and spotlighting cool news stories about parenting.

(Plus, putting numbers in the title, like “The Top 10 Dadabase Posts Of All Time: 4 Years And Counting”, seems to help too.)

I’ll try to keep these things in mind as I continue writing my thoughts as a dad in these “private” daily letters to you.

Four years down… the rest of our lives to go!

Love,

Daddy